Prank
by serious-snuffles
Summary: The Maurauders have yet another school year to conquer. Can they keep up thier reputation as greatest Hogwarts pranksters? Will James get Lily to like him? Read and find out! (PG13 to be safe for later chapters) btw, don't judge me on my horrific summary-
1. Default Chapter

Prank- Chapter One- Summer  
  
Sirius sat on his bed, staring blankly into space. Suddenly, a twinkle appeared in his eyes, meaning only one thing; mischief. He looked through his drawers until he came across a roll of parchment. Grinning he pulled it out, grabbed an eagle quill from a nearby shelf and began to write:  
  
Dear, dear James,  
This is Lily Evans. I just wanted to say that after a lot of thought,  
I have decided that you are the man for me and I love you. Meet me at  
my house tomorrow at midnight. I already know that you know the  
address so I won't bother telling you.  
  
Sirius smirked here, remembering James pouring over every wizarding reference, trying to find out Lily's address.  
  
I want you James Potter. ~Lily  
  
Sirius grinned and ran downstairs, clutching the note, to find the family owl, Hades. He tied the letter to the owl's feet, brought him to the window, and sent him out with a flurry of feathers. He couldn't wait for school to start.  
  
He spent the rest of the day working on the Marauder's newest invention after 24- hour dungbombs, the Marauder's Map. He was just finishing programming it to insult Snivellius upon discovery when his door burst open. "Sirius! Where's Hades?" his mother demanded.  
  
"I sent him with a letter to a friend," Sirius replied slowly.  
  
"Not another of you filthy mudblood friends! Hades is only to be used for important messages," she said icily, her eyes hard. She left the room mutter about how she wouldn't be able to get that portrait of her done.  
  
Sirius stared after her, glaring. One day... He slowly turned back to his work.  
  
The next few days passed and he, like every other year, got the annual Hogwarts supply letter. Because his mother (even if he'd wanted her) wouldn't transport him to Diagon Alley, he managed to get a ride with the Knight Bus.  
  
He bought all of the required supplies and books, along with newly required dress robes "for Hogwarts' first annual Halloween Dance". He rode back home, starting to feel sick, and weighed down by all of his new supplies and the thought that he hadn't seen the other Maurauders during his trip. 


	2. Back

Prank- Chapter Two- Home Again  
  
**THE CHARACTERS OF THIS STORY BELONG TO THE GENIUS BEHIND HARRY POTTER, J. K. ROWLING. ONLY THE PLOT BELONGS TO ME (sniff)**  
  
Sirius walked through the barrier and into Platform 9 3/4. He looked around, trying to spot James, Remus, and Peter. He grinned, remembering his prank. He finally spotted them, standing together on the far left side of the platform. He went over to them.  
  
"Why hello Mr. Prongs, Mr. Mooney, Mr. Wormtail," he nodded mock-formally to each of them.  
  
"Ahh.... Mr. Padfoot!" James mocked back. "We were awaiting your arrival!"  
  
Remus rolled his eyes at their behavior while Peter laughed. "Hey Sirius, did you work on the Map any over your break? Or was there just too much excitement?" he said grinning as the Marauders headed to the Hogwarts Express.  
  
"Actaully I managed to fit in some time in my er... busy schedule." They sat down in an empty compartment. Sirius pulled out the map. "Here," he said, handing it to Remus, who was sitting next to him.  
  
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," Remus said. The ink appeared on the map. He grinned. "Great Padfoot." James and Peter aggreed.  
  
James poked his head out of the compartment as the train began to move. "Where's Evans?" he whined.  
  
Remus rolled his eyes. "Not here. Probably with her friends."  
  
"But her letter... it's like she changed her mind right after she mailed it..." he murmered to himself, still trying to spot her. Sirius managed to control his face.  
  
Suddenly James jumped up, started to leave, jumped back in the compartment, checked his reflection in the window of the compartment, and bolted out.  
  
"What in bloody hell was that?" Remus said so surprised he actually swore, which he never did.  
  
Sirius poked his head out of the compartment. "Lily," he said, seeing James walk up to a compartment in that walk he only used when he saw Her. He burst out laughing.  
  
"Really?" Peter stuck his head out above Sirius'. Remus joined them. They watched as James slid open the compartment's door and entered. Only a few seconds later, the door banged open and a dishevelled James fell out. The other Marauders laughed.  
  
He came back to the compartment, nursing a burn on his elbow. "They hexed me!" he said in disbelief. "They actually hexed me! Lily... even after that note..."  
  
"I'm sure she'll come around," Remus said encouragingly. Sirus grinned.  
  
James looked in the direction of Lily's compartment. Yes she will, he though to himself.  
  
When the food trolley came by, the Marauders bought everything it offered, except for Cockroach Clusters, which none of them liked. They joked, planned what they would do in the new school year, and studied (well, Mooney did at least).  
  
They were about to begin a great school year  
  
(BTW, James never did find out about that note. Good thing too. :D ) 


	3. A Day's Work

Prank- Chapter 3- A Day's Work  
  
**disclaimer- I own nothing except for Natalie, Emily, and, of course, Naomi :P everything else belongs to JKR ?**  
  
(a/n: it's Saturday) "Get up!" Remus yelled loudly, yanking away Sirius' covers. "Hunmghnm?" he moaned. He sat up, coverless, blinking confusedly. James and Peter were missing the covers from their beds too. "C'mon! Quidditch field's empty," he said, nodding towards the window. At the mention of Quidditch, James sprang out of his bed, Sirius and Peter soon after.  
  
They hurriedly got dressed, grabbed their brooms, and rushed through the Fat Lady's portrait. Near the Great Hall, they stopped and grabbed the Hogwarts Quidditch supplies from one of the broom closets.  
  
At the Quidditch fields, Sirius mounted his Nimbus 7, one of the best brooms around. He was a beater on Griffindor's team. James was chaser, and an unbelievable one at that. Remus and Peter weren't on the team, but they could still play pretty well.  
  
The Marauders played a revised game of Quidditch for a while, due to the fact that they only had four players, including Peter, who wasn't very good at the game, and then hurried to the Great Hall for breakfast. Sirius, Remus, and Peter began piling food onto their plates. James began his usual search for Lily. He found her, and began filling his plate too, his eyes remaining on her. Sirius looked over, following James' steady gaze. Lily was sitting with her three usual friends, about fifteen people down the table from the Marauders. He looked from one girl to the other, from Natalie to Emily, his eyes finally resting on Naomi. Her deep brown eyes caught his and her face split into a grin. Sirius felt his heart flip. He grinned back.  
  
"What do you think, brainless moron?"  
  
Sirius blinked, startled. "Huh?" His whole attention had been on Naomi. James looked a little annoyed at having been ignored. Remus, who was sitting behind James, stuffed his fists in his mouth to muffle his laughter. Sirius glared at him, unsure of whether Remus was laughing at him or James.  
  
"Should we plant dungbombs in the Great Hall tomorrow morning?" James asked, a slight mischievous glint in his eyes. Sirius grinned.  
  
"Absolutely," Sirius said his grin widening.  
  
"Then it's decided. The only one against this plan is Remus, whom nobody loves anyways. We will plant ten dungbombs tomorrow morning at six. I expect you all to be there promptly," James said, mock-serious. Remus shot him a look at the mention of nobody loving him. Peter laughed.  
  
"We could enchant them to smell ten times more intense," Sirius said, his eyes twinkling. James agreed. Remus rolled his eyes.  
  
As the Marauders finished their breakfast, Sirius glanced at Naomi. She, Lily, and Emily were laughing at one of Natalie's jokes. Natalie was the hilarious one of the four. Lily was the smart one. Emily was the boy-crazy one. Naomi was the prankster. Like him, he smiled to himself.  
  
~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~  
  
Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter walked back to the Griffindor common room. Peter and James played a game of Exploding Snap, while Sirius began copying Remus' History of Magic notes to prepare for Monday's test.  
  
"I cannot believe Binns is giving a test only a week into the school year!" Sirius said loudly, throwing his hands up. He quickly smeared away the inkblot he created through that movement.  
  
"Test?" James laughed.  
  
"Test," Remus repeated.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes," Remus replied.  
  
"Oh well," James laughed, and returned to his game. Remus shook his head. Sirius smiled.  
  
Sirius looked out of the window. The fiery leaves of the autumn trees were gathering on the ground. Some first years were making piles from them and jumping in them. The air looked crisp. It was almost winter, the one season without his bloody family, he thought savagely.  
  
"I'm bored. Anyone want to torture Snivellus? Or flood the girls' bathroom? Or-"  
  
"Okay, okay!" Sirius interrupted James. "I have a better idea. We combine the two and add something. The plan: We flood the dungeons, which would flood the Slytherin common room, which would annoy everyone, which is what we, of course, want. We then set off a pack of water-powered fireworks near the area." James didn't need to answer. They sprang up, ran to their dorm, grabbed their fireworks, Marauder's map, and James' invisibility cloak, and left.  
  
Under the cloak, they dodged various students and teachers, until they finally reached the Hogwarts dungeons. "Adaquari Totalus!" Sirius whispered, directing his wand toward the bottom of the stairs. Water began to puddle, as if coming from a leak in the ground. Soon the whole corridor contained a foot of water, which was seeping through the cracks under doors. James and Sirius shared identical grins under the cloak. They threw the fireworks into the water, which promptly began to explode. "THEY REALLY DO WORK!" James yelled over the noise as they ran from the scene, holding their ears shut.  
  
"YEAH! I NOTICED!"  
  
Hidden, they dodged the curious and frightened people running towards the commotion. They made it to the portrait hole. "Bonifatum Fortus." The password. The Fat Lady looked quite surprised at the words coming from thin air, but the portrait swung open anyways. Panting and laughing hysterically, they clambered through the gap.  
  
"That was so great!" James said, removing the cloak.  
  
"I'm laughing so hard I can't breathe!" Sirius practically wheezed.  
  
"Just wait until everyone hears," James said. "Oy! Remus, Peter! We did it!" he yelled across the room.  
  
Remus couldn't resist. "You didn't!" he laughed. He hated the Slytherins more than he wanted to keep his friends out of trouble. "I should have come with," he said wistfully.  
  
"Yeah. It was great"  
  
They spent the next few minutes describing the prank, planning the one for tomorrow. Remus decided he'd come after all. After that, they headed down to the Great Hall, starving.  
  
**a/n: please review!! Tell me your email if you want updates! Or whatever. lol** 


	4. Morning DungbombDropping

Prank- Chapter Four- Morning Dungbomb Dropping  
  
**A/N I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while. I was on my long-awaited Spring Break, where all I did was worry about my un-updated fanfic. (not really.) As always, I OWN NOTHING!!! NOTHING YA HEAR?!? (actually I own Naomi, Natalie, and some other person, I forgot their name) Blah, blah, my tedious ramble is over. PS: (haha never mind) I hope this boringness hasn't scared you away from the chapter, because something exciting happens. *gasp* whoops! I said NOTHING. Oh! And review of course! **  
  
They woke up early, sometime around four in the morning. Sirius rubbed his eyes and began to search for the dungbombs they had specially made for that morning. It was about ten times as strong as a regular dungbomb. His drowsiness was wearing off at the thought of what would happen when people began to wake up and arrive for their breakfast. He finally found the dungbombs and ran down to the Griffindor common room, where Remus, James, and Peter were already waiting with James' invisibility cloak. Silently, Remus , Sirius, and James got under the cloak, and Peter, because he would be unnoticed, transformed into his rat form. They swung through the portrait of the Fat Lady, who grunted in her sleep.  
  
They crept through the school, and didn't run into anyone on their way down to the Great Hall. As they neared their destination, Sirius pulled out the dungbombs. They entered the Great Hall, where James promptly pulled off the cloak and threw it on a nearby table. Sirius breathed in deeply and grinned. Their plan was flawless.  
  
"Where should we set them off? In Professor Krimp's (the potions teacher) place?" Sirius asked with distaste in his voice.  
  
"At the Slytherin table, if anywhere," Remus whispered.  
  
James raised his eyebrows at Remus, and they walked to the Slytherin table. Sirius dropped the dungbombs onto the table. Peter laughed a little nervously.  
  
"What if we get caught?" he squeaked.  
  
"We won't. We didn't last time," James replied calmly. "If we do, it will be worth it."  
  
At this, Remus began looking a bit nervous.  
  
"We'll be fine," Sirius assured him calmly. Remus nodded.  
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~  
  
James and Sirius lit the first dungbomb and watched with extreme glee as the whole Great Hall began to fill with an unbearable stench. They set off a few more, and finally the rest, their evil-looking grins broadening with each one. "Sirius! Eww! That's disgusting!" James said, pinching his nose and jumping away from his friend. Sirius punched him.  
  
As James was running from Sirius, yelling more "Sirius! How rude!"s, Remus suddenly froze.  
  
"Remus! For Merlin's sake! How many times do you need to hear 'It'll be fine!'?" James said exasperatedly, looking over from the other side of the Slytherin table, where he was desperately trying to avoid Sirius, who now had his wand out and was grinning, his eyes twinkling mischeivously.  
  
"No... it's not that..." he said slowly. "I thought I heard something."  
  
"Well, you didn't," James replied , not listening much, dodging a jinx shot by Sirius.  
  
"Oi! Sirius! Trying to kill me now eh?" he laughed.  
  
A few more spells, aimed a bit more precisely, narrowly missed his head. One hit him, causing his messy hair to turn into a mess of bubble gum.  
  
"Hey!" he yelled, frantically feeling his now sticky hair. He pulled out a chunk and began to chew it. His reproachful look turned to one of surprise. "This is good! Thanks!" he exclaimed, his mouth full.  
  
"Your welcome!" Sirius mock-bowed. Remus looked impressed.  
  
"Hey, his face didn't turn green," he noted. "That's new."  
  
"He got it to work right!" James laughed. "After testing it on various random hall passer-bys. At this, Remus grimaced at the thought. Suddenly, his face froze and turned pale.  
  
"What?! What I did wasn't THAT bad!" Sirius said.  
  
"I heard something. Footsteps," he said his face white now.  
  
James looked like he was about to laugh. "But-"  
  
"If these aren't footsteps I'm hearing, you can copy off of all my History of Magic notes."  
  
At that James froze. Sirius looked around slowly, his heart thumping. Peter looked like he would have whimpered, but was too scared to. Remus wouldn't say that unless he was dead sure.  
  
"Shh!" someone said. Sirius was concentrating too hard to notice who.  
  
Suddenly, Sirius heard it too. He could hear the echoing sound of footsteps coming from outside the Great Hall. James frantically grabbed his cloak, and Remus, Sirius, and he hid underneath of it, as Peter desperately transformed into rat. Sirius could feel himself sweating as the footsteps drew nearer. James began to move in the direction of the exit. Remus and Sirius edged along with him. Escape was the only thing on the mind of all four of them. The footsteps were almost right outside of the Great Hall.  
  
The owner of the footsteps coughed. Whoever was out there had begun to smell the stench within the Hall. Sirius grimaced. If they were caught, there would be no doubt in anyone's mind that they had planted the dungbombs. Maybe we shouldn't have... he thought to himself. Maybe this was a bad idea after all...  
  
The footsteps continued, right outside of the door. Soon Remus, James, and Sirius would see who it was. Sirius heard a gasp come from beside him, and as he looked toward the door, he felt one come from him too. 


	5. Caught

Prank- - Chapter Caught  
  
Sirius gasped... a gasp of relief. It was Naomi, holding her nose against the stench, and Lily, doing the same. "Coming down early was /i not a great idea," Naomi admitted, as they made thier way to the Griffindor table.  
  
"Yeah," Lily said. "Looks like James and his friends got here first." As she said the word 'James' her right nostril twiched with annoyance, like he was a pest.  
  
"I can't wait until the Slytherins get here! It's worse on thier side," Naomi said grinning. "In fact, you can barely smell it from here," she said, now walking along the Griffindor table.  
  
"We obviously can't study here now though," Lily said.  
  
"Of course. Let's go." Sirius understood what they meant. If they stayed, someone could find them and believe they had pulled the prank. And with that said, they left, careful not to be too loud.  
  
"I think we should leave too," Remus whispered once Lily and Naomi had left.  
  
"Yeah," James said, breathing normally again. "Let's go."  
  
~*~*~  
  
They tried to find Peter, but upon failing to do so, left, quietly sneaking through the halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, until they came to the portrait of the Fat Lady, who was very much awake.  
  
"You too? If I get interrupted one more time..." she said, a grumpy look plastered on her painted face. Her expression changed as she saw James' hair. "May I inquire as to how your hair er..."  
  
"Him," James said, motioning towards Sirius.  
  
"Ahh... Password?" she asked, a curious expression still on her face.  
  
"Bonifatum Fortus," Remus said.  
  
In the Griffindor common room, Sirius turned to Remus. "That was the stupidest thing I have ever done. I swear I will never... ever do anything like that again," he said seriously.  
  
"I know. Me too. That was the biggest, baddest mistake of my life," James said, just as serious.  
  
"I am so..." Sirius' face contorted. "So... angry... at.... myself..." he couldn't hold whatever he was holding in himself any longer. He burst out laughing, falling into an armchair in front of the warm glow of the fire. James, instead of falling on to a chair, fell on the floor, gasping through his laughter.  
  
Remus stared at them expressionlessly. "Er... right," he said. He sat down at a table.  
  
"Sirius, will you be gracious enough to give me back my hair?" James said, patting his sticky head.  
  
"Never!" Sirius joked, though after only a slight hesitation, replaced his best friend's wad-of-gum-for-hair with his original.  
  
"You know, we really should have brought the map. It could have prevented being caught," said Remus distractedly.  
  
"Argh! Why had we not thought of that!" exclaimed James.  
  
"Because we are brainless prats*?" suggested Sirius.  
  
"Probably," said James. "Well, I'm off to bed."  
  
"Yeah, I can't believe we, the Marauders, the sleep-in Marauders, actually woke up at four, just to set off a couple dozen dungbombs and, in the process, annoy everyone," Sirius said. He frowned slightly at what he said and added "Oh wait, never mind. It involves annoying people."  
  
James laughed and left.  
  
"I think I should get some more sleep too. It is supposed to help the mind," said Remus, looking behind his shoulder where James was just climbing the staircase to the dormitories. Sirius shrugged, and Remus followed a drowsy James. He was not tired, not after feeling the adrenaline of pulling a prank.  
  
Seeing nothing better to do, Sirius picked up an astronomy book from a table and sat down to read. He was fully absorbed, and jumped when he felt a tap on his shoulder.  
  
"Hey," said Naomi, as she sat down next to him on the couch. "When did you come in?"  
  
Sirius, knowing he couldn't feign confusion, made an attempt to anyways. "What?"  
  
Naomi rolled her eyes. "After your little prank, of course. When else?"  
  
"Er... around five or so? Why?"  
  
"Dunno. Just wondering." Sirius watched her. She sat there, pulling off lint from a cushion of the couch. She was wearing baggy black pants and black turtleneck.  
  
"Are you hungry?" Sirius asked, trying to stir up some conversation.  
  
"Kind of, shall we go down to eat?" she said.  
  
"I could go down and bring up some food. It probably still smells down there," he said, grinning.  
  
"Thanks," she laughed. "But I can't wait to see the looks on the Slytherins' faces. I'll come too."  
  
~*~*~  
  
It still being six, there was no one in the Great Hall when Sirius and Naomi arrived. But there was food, as there always was at this time. He filled up his own plate, as Naomi filled hers. As they left, Sirius grabbed a pitcher of orange juice.  
  
When they arrived back at the common room, it was still empty. They grabbed some seats, this time at a table, set down their food, and sat down.  
  
"Was that book you were reading interesting? Astronomy?" Naomi asked.  
  
"Wha- Oh yeah. It was pretty good actually. Do you know there's a star called Nao? That's only two letters off from your name," he grinned.  
  
"Do you know there's a star called Sirius?" she laughed. "And, to answer your question, yes actually I do. I take astronomy. Nao is the closest star to Sirius."  
  
As she said this, their hands brushed under the table, and Sirius felt an electric-like shock surge through his body. Neither of them moved their hands, and their fingers intertwined. Naomi, smiling, tilted her head up at Sirius and their eyes locked.  
  
"Hey what's up boys and girls?" asked James, surprising them. He was coming down from the dormitories, followed by Remus and Peter. Naomi and Sirius quickly disentangled their hands and moved apart, averting their eyes. None of the others seemed to notice as they did this.  
  
"Nothing, James. You?" Naomi replied. "Same here," James said, yawning.  
  
"So what are you two doing together?" Remus asked curiously.  
  
"Sirius is helping me study for my Astronomy test," she said easily. Sirius smiled to himself as he realized how easily the lie had come to her. Everyone looked up suddenly as Lily, followed by Natalie, made thier way down into the common room. Lily gave James a look comprising of pure hatred and annoyance, and said "C'mon Naomi."  
  
Naomi responded by getting up, and before turning her back to leave, said quietly "Sorry, no choice. You know, Lily," and then left.  
  
The four boys watched them leave and then James turned to the others. "Let's go and see some Slytherin expression," he grinned.  
  
"Yes!" Peter squeaked, and turned to follow. Sirius was just about to do suit, when Remus stopped him.  
  
"I need to speak to Sirius privately," he said to the others.  
  
James shrugged. "Okay," he said. "Come down later?" he asked.  
  
They nodded and James and Peter left, leaving the portrait they left through swinging.  
  
~FYI:  
* -prats- a British word meaning idiot, moron, something along those lines. 


End file.
